Northern Ireland

Pandemic sees surge in TV watching time

Contestants in I'm A Celebrity
Contestants in I'm A Celebrity Contestants in I'm A Celebrity

THE COVID pandemic led to an increase in the time people spent watching TV and streaming services such as Netflix, a new report shows.

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! was Northern Ireland's most-watched programme in 2020, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's lockdown announcement last March ranked second in the annual viewing figures, according to Ofcom.

The media watchdog's latest report highlights an increase in the time people spent watching TV, with viewing of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ more than doubling in just 12 months.

Viewing of regular broadcast TV also increased, bucking a near decade-long trend of decline, with the Coronavirus pandemic related lockdowns playing a big part.

On average, people in the north spent an average of 4 hours 19 minutes per day in front of a television in 2020 – an increase of 36 minutes compared to 2019.

The bulk of this time was still spent watching broadcast TV – 3 hours 8 minutes – however, much of the overall rise in total viewing came from non-broadcast services, including YouTube, gaming, and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which increased by 46 per cent year-on year.

Ofcom's report shows more than half of homes in Northern Ireland have a paid-for streaming service

Netflix remains the most popular streaming service, with more than half (52 per cent) of households having a subscription, followed by Amazon Prime Video (27 per cent) and Disney+ (8 per cent).

News viewing increased in 2020 as the public sought information on the unfolding pandemic and changing government restrictions. In Northern Ireland, the average audience share of BBC One’s early evening Newsline programme was 38.2 per cent, up from 31.7 per cent in 2019.

The average audience share of viewing of the UTV Live news programme was higher still, at 44 per cent, up from 39.3 per cent in 2019.

Television remains the go-to place for news, according to Ofcom, with BBC One and UTV the two most used news sources, ahead of Facebook.

I’m a Celebrity was the region's most-watched programme of 2020, with the opening episode achieving an average audience of 492,000 – a 60 per cent share of viewing – while the last March's BBC News Special outlining lockdown measures secured an average regional audience of 398,000.

Radio continues to be popular in Northern Ireland, the report says, with more than eight in ten people tuning in every week.

Ofcom’s regional director Jonathan Rose said: "The pandemic accelerated the take-up and use of streaming services especially, with more than half of homes in Northern Ireland signed up to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

“It was also a big year for broadcast TV, with viewing figures rising for the first time in nearly a decade as people tuned into to keep themselves informed and entertained through the pandemic."